Greengrass Off Bourne 4?

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Director has reportedly left the sequel.

By Jim Vejvoda

A new report claims that Jason Bourne may not be back on the screen as soon as previously believed.

According to The Playlist, director Paul Greengrass has quit Bourne 4 over "creative differences" and moved on. Citing "sources and friends close to the project," The Playlist alleges that the falling out between Greengrass and Universal Pictures stems from a number of things.

First, Greengrass, who directed The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, is reportedly peeved that he was not consulted by the studio on the hiring of a new screenwriter (hot up-and-comer Josh Zetumer, who is said to have been brought on to pen a "parallel script" to one that was written by George Nolfi). But that's not all that's said to be going on behind the scenes.

The Playlist also claims that the studio is growing frustrated with Greengrass' upcoming thriller Green Zone. "Greengrass has reshot several times (gets expensive) and has been tinkering away in the editing room for months spending Universal's money and testing their patience," the site reports. "This was supposed to be a smaller movie that Greengrass made in between Bourne films, something Universal let Greengrass make to keep him happy and part of the Uni/Bourne family, but you can bet when he said, '(expensive) Iraq War thriller,' the studio wasn't exactly jazzed, even if Matt Damon was the star."

Given that Greengrass is known to have essentially winged it on the Bourne sequels and found the story as production went along, Universal is reluctant to go down that road again after the costly Green Zone and the overruns Greengrass incurred on the last two Bournes. There is a new regime at Universal and a far tougher economic climate since those sequels were made. The Playlist suggests that Greengrass and Universal might patch things up down the line, especially since it's understood that Damon's loyalties lie with Greengrass and the studio may need to place nice in order to get the film made. The site adds that an announcement about Bourne 4 could come in the trades in the coming days.